ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The Latest on the New York Legislature (all times local):
12:45 a.m.
The New York Senate has adjourned for the year after a long final day that saw votes on hundreds of bills.
The Democrat-led chamber completed its work early Friday morning.
One of the final bills to pass the Senate was a measure that would eliminate criminal penalties for the possession of less than 2 ounces (57 grams) of marijuana. Instead, those caught with small amounts of pot would be fined.
It would also allow for the expungement of past low-level marijuana convictions.
That bill was advanced after efforts to legalize marijuana stalled.
The Assembly was expected to pass the decriminalization bill early Friday before adjourning.
Other developments on the final day included the collapse of a bill to legalize paid gestational surrogacy, and the announcement of plan to overhaul solitary confinement.
____
2:38 p.m.
A proposal to legalize and regulate paid surrogacy in New York appears dead for the year in the state Legislature.
Michigan and New York are now the only two states that expressly forbid contracts in which a woman is compensated for carrying the child of another individual or couple.
Critics of that law say it forces same-sex and infertile couples to travel to other states to find surrogates, an expensive and difficult process.
The state Senate voted to legalize and regulate paid surrogacy, but Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said it won’t get a vote in his chamber before lawmakers adjourn this week.
Heastie says many Assembly members have concerns about protecting the rights of paid surrogates and the commercialization of the practice.
Advocates say they’ll try again next year.
___
10:33 a.m.
New York will soon have the nation’s most aggressive and ambitious target for reducing carbon emissions.
The state Assembly approved the new targets early Thursday following Senate passage the day before.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will sign it into law.
Under the measure, the state will aim to generate 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2040, and cut greenhouse gasses by 85 percent under 1990 levels by 2050.
Once adopted, the new goals would give New York state the country’s most aggressive renewable energy and emission reduction goals, surpassing such states as California and Hawaii.
Environmental groups called the new targets an essential step in addressing climate change, but cautioned that a lot of work will be required to meet the goals.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.